sharyn1

i have been reading different threads on Scotland and still find i need help (desperate!) so here goes:

My husband and I are going to Scotland for business for 4 days, staying at Gleneagles. During that time we will take day trips to St. Andrews, Edinburgh, Stirling Castle/Loch Lomond. We will then stay on for 4 more days to explore. I don't know whether to drive around ourselves or to do a tour (Prestige or Rabbies?)- I'm thinking the tour may be the easiest way to cover a lot of ground, although I don't know if I can handle 4 days in a motorcoach.

If we drive, this is what I am thinking...

Day 1. Drive to Glencoe, Fort William. Stay over (where?)
Day 2. Go to Loch Ness, Urquhart Castle, etc. Stay in Inverness
Day 3. Go to Skye for day. Drop off car (hopefully) in Portree.
Day 4. Go to Lewis for day- fly to Glasgow at end of day for flight next morning to US.

Is it too much? What suggestions does anyone have for the 4 days?

Thanks for any and all help!!

janisj

Yes - too much.

A couple of other issues. There are no major car rental companies on Skye - only small locals. So you can't drop off a car that you picked up back near Gleneagles, Ft William or anywhere else.

You want to cover an area it would be hard pressed to tour/enjoy over 8-10 days -- in just four.

If you have read many threads about Scotland you will see a theme - that Inverness and Ft William are not the nicest places to stay. If you had 3 weeks - then throwing away a couple of nights in Ft William and I'ness - maybe. But when your whole time is just 4 days it would be a shame to spend half of it in those two places.

W/ just 4 days to play w/ - pick at very most two areas. Skye might be one - but if it is you'd need to stay over 2 nights to see much on the island since that really only gives you 1.5-ish days on the Isle.

historytraveler

I agree with janisj as usual. You would also have to get the early ferry from Uig ( how do you get to Uig and how will you travel on Lewis without car?)in order to have time to do the usual sights.

You could certainly do Skye but why not explore the area closer to Gleneagles such as Deeside,Loch Tay, Pitlochry and if you have to visit Loch Ness there is lots to see in that area...Cawdor Castle, Bodie Castle,Clava Cairns and Culloden just to mention a few.

I'd pick one spot and do day trips. Best advice is don't "try to cover a lot of ground". In trying to do so, you'll miss the magic of Scotland and end up exhausting yourselves.

sharyn1

Thanks for your quick replies.
Janis; I have read the negative feedback about Ft William and Inverness, it's more about Glen Coe and the area around Inverness, than those towns. I've read that Skye is beautiful and wanted to see the coastal part of Scotland that I had heard so much about, and the Standing Stones are supposed to be amazing. I have a tendency to want to do everything, regardless of the time restraints. That said, I've read and heard that Scotland is harder to get around than it looks, and I don't want to spend the whole time in the car.
Historytraveler-I was planning on having a guide with a car take us around Lewis for the day. Someone has been recommended to me, but again, I don't want to try to see so much that I end up seeing nothing. There are tours that cover this much ground (I know a lot of posters are anti tour)so I thought if they can do it so can I. But I figured you guys would know best.
Since I will already have covered the area around St. Andrews and Stirling/Loch Lomond, do you think that covering the areas that you suggest will be more of the same kind of topography, and I should go to Skye instead? I don't have to go to Loch Ness, I read on another thread that it's just another lake. I guess I am overbrainwashed by reading too many tour sites that go to the same places..Loch Ness, Ft. William, Glen coe, etc.

historytraveler

Here's an plan for Skye. From Gleneagles travel to Fort william via Glen Coe. Turn in rental car. Take the train from Fort William to Mallaig. Take ferry from Mallaig to Armadale and have driver meet you there. You could arrange for rental car while on Skye but they will need to meet you at Armadale. You will need a driver to get you to Uig in order to catch ferry to Tarbet. You will not be able to leave rental car at Uig.

I'd spend a night in Glen Coe area then an early start for Fort William. You should be able to get from Ft. William to Mallaig in plenty of time to catch ferry across to Skye.

The only problem will be in renting a car for such a short time...expensive.

Keep in mind that while Glen Coe,Skye and Lewis represent some of Scotland's best, there are equally wonderful places closer to Gleneagles that would not require such a complicated itinerary.

sharyn1

If I stayed closer to Gleneagles, where would you suggest in addition to the places you mentioned? (Deeside,Loch Tay, Pitlochry )- or will that fill the 4 days?

historytraveler

There is plenty to keep you busy. Here are some ideas.

Perth..Scone Palace, Loch Leven,Balhousie Castle,Drummond Castle&Gardens, Glenturret Distillery

The East Neuk fishing villages
Dunfermline Abbey and Palace
Culross ( rennovated village Scottish
National Trust)
Falkirk Wheel
Stirling Castle
Dunblane Cathedral
Medieval & Pre-historic sites around
Forar
Callander & The Trossachs
The Grampians and Castle Trail..Crathes Castle,Castle Fraser,Drum Castle,Fyvie Castle, Aberdeen and just south, Dunnottar Castle
Also along the Dee, Balmoral Castle, Braemar Castle
Pitlochy..Loch Rannoch,Loch Tay, Blair Castle